What percentage of golfers shoot under 100?
According to the National Golf Foundation, the average golf score remains where it has been for decades: 100. This, in spite of all the innovations in club and ball design and instruction. The USGA says that the average golf handicap for men is 16.1, and is 29.2 for women.
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The National Golf Foundation breaks down scores this way:
| Average Score | Percent of Adult Golfers |
|---|---|
| Under 80 | 5% |
| 80-89 | 21% |
| 90-99 | 29% |
| 100-109 | 24% |
| 110-119 | 10% |
| 120+ | 11% |
So, according to the NGF, 55% of golfers surveyed report breaking 100.
There are flaws in all these numbers, however. The first is that they assume golfers are playing by the rules. I have yet to see the round where a golfer took stroke-and-distance on a lost or out-of-bounds ball. Gimmies on the green are legion. Whiffs are declared “practice swings.” Mulligans on the first tee are expected as a matter of courtesy. Given this, I am certain that the average score is well above 100, and that handicaps are much higher than reported.
The handicap reporting also has issues because only better and/or more dedicated players tend to bother to pay for, and record their handicaps. Bad players don’t keep handicaps, so the “handicap” for the general population is much higher than reported.
In addition, the USGA’s handicap system is completely broken. There’s supposed to be a handicap committee on every course, along with the opportunity for “peer review.” Members are supposed to have “a reasonable and regular opportunity to play together” and access to scoring records must be available “for inspection by others, including, but not limited to, fellow club members.” I don’t know who would do the peer review on my handicap, since I often play alone, and even if playing with others almost never play with the same group twice. Even among regular groups, I’m certain that they are not going online to look up the scores others post to be sure it’s all on the up-and-up.
Below are the 2017 USGA statistics for handicaps.
| Handicap Index | Percent of Total | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|
| +1.0 or better | 0.92% | 0.0092 |
| +0.9 to 0.0 | 0.68% | 0.016 |
| 0.1 to 1.0 | 0.0095 | 0.0255 |
| 1.1 to 1.9 | 0.0126 | 0.0381 |
| 2.0 to 2.9 | 0.0162 | 0.0543 |
| 3.0 to 3.9 | 0.0207 | 0.0751 |
| 4.0 to 4.9 | 0.026 | 0.1011 |
| 5.0 to 5.9 | 0.032 | 0.133 |
| 6.0 to 6.9 | 0.0377 | 0.1707 |
| 7.0 to 7.9 | 0.0435 | 0.2142 |
| 8.0 to 8.9 | 0.0476 | 0.2618 |
| 9.0 to 9.9 | 0.0513 | 0.3131 |
| 10.0 to 10.9 | 0.0543 | 0.3674 |
| 11.0 to 11.9 | 0.0566 | 0.424 |
| 12.0 to 12.9 | 0.0572 | 0.4812 |
| 13.0 to 13.9 | 0.0569 | 0.5382 |
| 14.0 to 14.9 | 0.0547 | 0.5928 |
| 15.0 to 15.9 | 0.051 | 0.6438 |
| 16.0 to 16.9 | 0.0469 | 0.6907 |
| 17.0 to 17.9 | 0.0433 | 0.734 |
| 18.0 to 18.9 | 0.0378 | 0.7717 |
| 19.0 to 19.9 | 0.0334 | 0.8051 |
| 20.0 to 20.9 | 0.0296 | 0.8347 |
| 21.0 to 21.9 | 0.0262 | 0.861 |
| 22.0 to 22.9 | 0.023 | 0.884 |
| 23.0 to 23.9 | 0.0198 | 0.9038 |
| 24.0 to 24.9 | 0.0168 | 0.9206 |
| 25.0 to 25.9 | 0.0143 | 0.935 |
| 26.0 to 26.9 | 0.0119 | 0.9469 |
| 27.0 to 27.9 | 0.01 | 0.9569 |
| 28.0 to 28.9 | 0.0082 | 0.9652 |
| 29.0 to 29.9 | 0.0068 | 0.9719 |
| 30.0 to 30.9 | 0.0054 | 0.9774 |
| 31.0 to 31.9 | 0.0045 | 0.9819 |
| 32.0 to 32.9 | 0.0036 | 0.9855 |
| 33.0 to 33.9 | 0.0029 | 0.9884 |
| 34.0 to 34.9 | 0.0024 | 0.9908 |
| 35.0 to 36.4 | 0.0092 | 1 |
So what percentage actually break 100? I’m sure it’s lower than the 55% reported by the National Golf Foundation. The best thing to say is that if you are legitimately shooting in the 90s, you are better than most. If you’re shooting in the 80s, you’re an excellent player. Those who shoot in the 70s are an anomaly.
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I’m sure a lot of golfers would really benefit from knowing things like this. It seems to me that many set unrealistic goals for their golf game. Perhaps the golfer who’s upset with himself for shooting a 95 should give himself a little more credit.
I concur with your doubt that 55% of golfers average 100 or less. If that figure is true, they play somewhere other than Michigan.
Of course, we run into a definitional issue as to what constitutes a golfer. Does owning a set of clubs and playing once a year make one a golfer? Not in my view. However, if one did count everyone that owns a set of clubs, then Ask.com’s answer of 5% may be on the mark.
Moving on the the issue of the USGA’s handicap system being broken, I also concur with you on that. In fact, GAM’s director of handicapping just wrote an article in which he lamented the increasing reliance on the internet to record scores.
I belong to a sort of “golf club without real estate”, the Michigan Publinx Senior Golf Association. Many of the members play together enough in our competitions to have a reasonably effective “peer review” system in place. Still, any number of members try to game the system either through ignorance or intention.
The surprising thing about the members who try to game the handicap system is that more do it to lower their handicap than to increase it. It seems that for most, having a “3” handicap is more important than winning a “net” competition.
As Brian says above, what constitutes a golfer? This would be more useful info if it was say someone who plays 10 times per year, and half of those times it is a full round of stroke 18-hole golf.
This is an interesting post and there are many things to consider. Handicap system is broken in several ways. I will leave thoughts for that on a specific post.
How players break 100? There is clear data on the 2 Million Ghin holders. Accordingly most GHIN players average below 100. Whether it is true or not would be out of my purview. Consider that only 8% of golfers, based on NGF STATS carry a GHIN handicap in the US. That would be 23 million golfers that are not reporting, which one can speculate that from that group that it is unlikely that better than 5% would be breaking 100. So I would guess that the number may be as high as 6-7%, anything above would be surprising.
The troubling part for me as an instructor is why? Mr. Hogan believed that a person of average physical ability could play near par golf, with proper training. I agree, that is how the percentage will increase. Just my 2cents.
I am of the firm belief that the reason people don’t score any better than they do is that most golfers play from the wrong tees.
I agree totally
I’ve always made myself play by the rules. Even when I was starting out I would still take penalties and count my crappy first tee drives. I’ve been playing about 2 years. I play at least once a week and I try very very hard. I can proudly say I am extremely dedicated to playing well. That being said in the last year I would say 60% of my rounds are in the 90s and 40% in the very low 100s. With one 89 in there. And most days I am grinding my butt off to break 100. But that is counting everything under the sun. In my experience, people who play twice a year and are not really “in to” the game, or dedicated or whatever, score considerably higher than 100. Not to mention all the stroke shavers out there…
Makes sense. You just got to do it once for it to count. I golf w/ several 36-hdc’ers and I’ve witnessed each of them break 100 on more than one occasion. GHIN reveals that 96% of golfers maintain a handicap that breaks 100 (28 or better). Quite obviously, this Survey is including those who may only golf less than once per year. http://www.usga.org/Handicapping/handicap-index-
statistics/mens-handicap-index-statistics-d24e6096.html
http://www.thegrint.com/range/2013/03/golfers-handicap-distribution-average-golf-handicap/
http://www.golfdigest.com/story/comparing-your-handicap-index
Anyone have any under 100 figures on just ladies ????
It strikes me that the numbers are probably the same. Ladies typically play from the forward tees, leveling the field.
I agree strongly that the Handicap system is completely broken.
As to who shoots under 100 how often, I have a statistical bent, I use statistics often in my work, and I would have to say that the average handicap, if the ROG were followed, would be somewhat above 30. (And I am not talking about people who only play a few rounds a year.)
It is easy to cite things such as stroke-and-distance, gimmes, and mulligans . . . but a ton of golfers “roll-it-over” on the fairways (and some do it in the rough) and otherwise “enhance” their opportunities of striking better shots. So . . . let us say that the average handicap is about 31 or so–and, on the average course that would translate into a stroke average of over 110.
I firmly believe that the reason more people aren’t better at golf is that they aren’t using a swing that is “natural” to them. They instead attempt to copy their favorite PGA Tour player, or take a bunch of the “tips” offered in the Golf magazines and string them together, haphazardly….Or worse yet, they take a lesson from a pro who tries to cram them into a “one size fits all” swing. There is a world of variation in human physiology. A persons build plays a large part in how they generate their power and what plane they swing on. This is why the “home made” swings of yesteryear looked so different from one another, but produced similar results.
I asked 16 strangers what they shot when I was paired with them. They said low 80s,mid 80s, high 80s,low 90s , mid 90s/. ONLY ONE guy broke 100.
I quit asking. I’m going to try PAUL Runyons style of putting. Then I’ll be honestly shooting in the 90d
It’s great to me that 9 years (almost) to the day, people are still commenting here. I love it. I play quite a bit of golf and am currently trending at a 4.6 hcap. I average around 80, sometimes shooting mid 80s and sometimes in the mid to high 70s. A problem I have with the handicap system is that I feel it punishes you for your good rounds. I never win a net tourney because the golfers in my flight are almost always considerably better than me, even when they have a higher handicap. Clearly there are a lot of sandbaggers out there, but then one guy told me he only ever enters his scores if they are tourney scores because his handicap is really only used if he’s playing a tournament and conditions are regularly more difficult when a course is setup for a tourney. I’m a good golfer, but when I play tourneys where they grow the rough and speed up the greens it definitely adds a few shots a round for me. What does anyone think of this idea of only adding scores to determine your handicap if they are played in tournament conditions?
My thought is that all players should be adding their scores from all their rounds. Then come tournament time you’ll be in the proper flight for skill level.
Thoughts? 🙂
I’m female and I play in a golf league. I consistently shoot in the 80’s. I do keep a handicap and love the game! My best score was a 76!
Interesting blog. I came here just to see how I am doing. Been playing regularly for about 3 years (I’m 71 now) and have watched my score drop from 110-115 without counting all my penalties, to around 98 and counting nearly all my penalties. I have definitely improved by playing once a week or more. My short game is where I can improve by being more accurate. I am often pin high but off to the left or right of the green, so I’m chipping rather than putting. Recently I have started practicing at the chipping green and it is improving my scores.
Ted: Welcome to the Blog. I hope you find interesting things here to read about.
I think golfers in the know will agree that the short game is key to improving scores.